Author speaks on poverty in SBISD

Published 7:30 am, Thursday, February 5, 2015

In areas like Memorial and Spring Branch, it can be difficult to see poverty through the suburban homes and job growth, but statistics show that it is right in our backyard.

Hundreds gathered at the Don Coleman Coliseum on Jan. 27 to hear Donna Beegle, founder of Communication Across Barriers and author of “See Poverty, Be The Difference,” speak on why people living in poverty can be so difficult to reach and what causes this economic inequality. Beegle was invited by Spring Branch Independent School District to explain how teachers, community members and mentors can help students living in poverty.

According to Linda Buchmann, community relations officer for SBISD, approximately 57 percent of students in the district come from low-income homes, making this lecture particularly important for teachers and mentors in the audience who may have trouble identifying with a student coming from poverty.

This is a key factor in SBISD’s T-2-4 plan, which aims to double the amount of students graduating high school and going on to obtain a two-year, four-year or technical degree, from 36 percent to 72 percent. According to Beegle’s presentation, approximately 89 percent of students in poverty leave high school without a degree, and 30 percent of those who do go on to pursue higher education leave within the first year.

Beegle, who shared her own personal story of growing up in poverty, explained that one of the main problems in the country is the lack of a clear definition of the word.

“What the average person believes about poverty is a stereotype or a myth. We don’t see the people,” said Beegle. “We don’t say the “P” word in our country. We believe that we have to go abroad to fight poverty. This is why education in ‘Poverty 101’ is needed.”

In her presentation, Beegle states that there are multiple types of poverty, and that the contexts of each type can be very different. She explains how she was born into what is called generational poverty, in which a family has been living in poverty for two or more generations and knows no other way to live. This differs greatly from situational poverty, in which a family or individual suffers a setback that causes them to become impoverished. Beegle states that the biggest difference between the two is that those in situational poverty still have hope that things can be better.

To give the audience context of what it’s like to live in poverty, Beegle used examples of how even small hardships can become insurmountable obstacles. In many public schools, if a child contracts head lice, they are sent home for the day. For a middle or upper class parent, this means taking the day off of work to buy special shampoo and be with their child. But for a parent living in poverty, this means losing a day’s wages to be with your child and an added expense of shampoo and related costs.

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Beegle says that looking at situations like this can give administrators a different perspective on how policy is affecting students, which allows them to change it to better serve parents and children. During her presentation, Beegle frequently took breaks to encourage the audience members to talk to each other about their views on poverty in hopes that starting these conversations will lead to continued discussion and eventual change.

“Believe that people can make it out of poverty,” said Beegle. “Because if you don’t, then they probably won’t.”